American Civil War – poems 2 die for

THE ESTABLISHED WISDOM

the established wisdom
strongly suggests
superglue to stick
the pieces together

from proposition to
conclusion
everything snapping
together like Lego bricks

thus
the position will stand cast
iron logic being
a veritable castle

no chance out there
of (on the sly) some
slavery funnelled
in
on the sly in
guise of
state of the art
sweatshop

drawbridge portcullis
they know
what to
say
how to read
everyman his rights

no way for
metaphor
on their watch
to Derrida the
base

superstructure down
toppling
so card
tower
(who would
have thought?)

to attack the base bring
card tower down
toppling

here in this bullpen
the rodeo of ideas
can so unsettle
that you
ride
that buck bronco backwards

thinking this confederate
union cavalry
and
go with the flow

see what history will make
of that
Gettysburg
last day

whose outcome prefigured
(curse
of tremors in
the market, much
insider
trading)

a house divided
against itself
if not as themselves houses
then perhaps
as
safe as a bank

and there the ranks of the
blue and the gray
under different
white stars
it is said

history
with many, many
more lessons than

sparing rod; spoiling child

SUSQUEHANNA 2

there are ghosts
in your country
I saw them dancing
in the mist all
along the Susquehanna
one cold January morning
just after 9/11
a couple of miles upstream
from Three Mile Island

and we were talking Civil War mlilitary,
myself and this kindly
African American
Professor of Sociology from
Harrisburg Penn State

him detailing how the Federals and Confederates
were criss-
crossing this territory
playing this cat and
mouse game
only to crash headlong into
each other at a
place called Gettysburg

of course neither of us
back in 2002 could have imagined
twenty so years on this
land would
find itself of the brink of
such a division
where the spectre of such
horror looming again

and those precious
twenty or so days
my sole experience
of America

of breathing the air of
its liberty, if
such is your belief

something the ghosts
trying to tell me, their
cold touch
alerting me

a new world and
forever graveyard

tension
in the spirit world
it seems far-fetched to bridge

the river
with its
Native American name

flowing with the forever
waters of such secrets

leaving
the old lies, the old lies
to spread, make
good trade,
do good business

what ripples outward here I fear
ultimately chain
in its reaction

AT APPOMATTOX COURTHOUSE

AT APPOMATTOX COURTHOUSE

proceedings were held up
because the burgers and cokes
had not arrived

then they
stopped shirts, swopped swords

slavery remained the elephant in the room

it was either kiss and makeup
or unconditional surrender

Arnold Schwartzenegger was playing General Grant
the Rock (naturally)
was playing the ghost of Stonewall Jackson
Charlie Sheen
was totally miscast as Robert E Lee

he rolled ten singles in succession
and so Vicksburg fell
and Pickett’s charge was defeated

unfortunately this doesn’t mean shit
because the Japs and the Krauts
invaded on alternate history Netflix

they promised to
have a comnerative reunion meeting
when the time felt right

slavery remained the elephant in the room

(a room
nobody bothered to, didn’t
even think to clean)